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Origin and history

The church Saints-Pierre-et-Paul d'Eguisheim, located in the Upper Rhine, has its origins in the 13th and 14th centuries, although a first Romanesque church of the 11th century preceded the current building. This Romanesque basilica, with three naves and a tower, was partially destroyed in the 18th century due to its disrepair and insufficient capacity for a growing population. A collapse in July 1787 during a religious office accelerated the decision to rebuild.

The reconstruction, led by the engineers Messier and Gouget from 1807 onwards, preserved only the medieval tower and some remains of the old church. The new nave, completed in 1809 on the north side of the tower, was financed by a gift from Joseph and Anne Marie Boll, inhabitants of Eguisheim. The furniture was added throughout the 19th century, while modern stained glass windows were installed in 1954 to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the death of Saint Leo IX, a pope from the city.

The porch bell tower, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, is a remarkable architectural element. Built in yellow sandstone, it retains a monumental sculpted 13th century gate, now walled, as well as traces of warhead vaults and screw stairs. The church was classified as a historical monument in two stages: the tower was listed in 1933, and the interior gate was classified in 1934. The 19th-century reconstruction works were led by Gouget, a bridge and pavement engineer, and carried out by the mason Joseph Huniger of Hattstatt.

The original building, destroyed in 1807, had a complex structure: a two-span, four-span nave, a salient transept and a semi-circular apse choir. Today, only the porch bell tower remains, with its southern openings and is preserved although walled, as well as a cubic capital pillar and warhead departures to the southeast. These remains bear witness to the Romanesque and Gothic architecture that characterized medieval Alsace.

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